Enquiring Minds Want to Know

We've become a race of Peeping Toms. What people ought to do is get outside their own house and look in for a change. Yes sir. How's that for a bit of homespun philosophy?

-Thelma Ritter in Alfred Hitchcock's great-on-many-levels Rear Window (before Jimmy Stewart cites Reader's Digest as the source of the quote)

The AP reports that Sandy Koufax has severed ties with the Dodgers over an article in a sister company's newspaper that questioned his sexual orientation.

Given Koufax's star status, the story gained more momentum after he severed ties. He may have been better off not making the stand at all but rather just turning a cold shoulder to the Dodgers. The Dodgers give themselves a black eye in the process by alienating one of their most popular stars.

That said, who cares about Koufax's sexual orientation? Or Mike Piazza's or that of any of a million other players about whom rumors have swirled. Or about Jeter shtupping Mariah Carey and half of the Upper Westside. Yes, they are ballplayers. They are entertainers. They are public figures. So? In our navel-gazing society we feel compelled to plumb the depths of every public person's soul until we find something we don't like in order to make ourselves feel superior. Leave them alone. Let them lead their own lives. We should lead our own (if we have any) while enjoying the sport for the drama on the field not off it. If the game is worthy of our attention then the on-field drama should be enough. If it isn't, why should we care in the first place?

To the people of the planet Earth, follow Chris Elliott's advice and get a life.